Billboard cover star John Summit takes you through a day in his life in Miami where he shares what he’s working on for his next album, who he would love to collaborate with, performing at the Sphere, how EDM music from the US has gone international and more!
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00:00I remember, like, I was just, at first, just making music to impress my girlfriend at the time.
00:05Because she, like, took all these DJs. I'm like, I can f***ing do this.
00:13I feel like I could lose my job any day.
00:16So the second I let off the gas, someone else is going to steam right ahead.
00:30So tell me what you were absorbing in terms of electronic music, pop music, movies, media,
00:36that, you know, kind of fed into what you're doing now. Like, what was particularly inspiring to you?
00:40I mean, I think the other pop stars this year were really inspiring. Like, I think the whole
00:45movement Charli XCX had with Brat was just incredible. Because the music was amazing,
00:49it was very electronic focused. But then there's a cultural movement as well, which I think is
00:54every kind of artist's dream, right? And then from there, just watching, like, movies I needed
00:59to catch up on. Like, I just re-watched, like, La La Land, for example. The guy who scores those
01:03movies does it with Damien Chazelle, this guy named Justin Hurwitz. And he has such an incredible,
01:07incredible score that super inspires me. And then I was looking into it and, like,
01:11Brian Gosling learned how to play the jazz piano within three months from nothing for that movie.
01:15And it just shows you that you don't even need to be particularly knowledgeable or skilled at
01:22any instrument and you can just learn it. I just re-watched Whiplash, for example.
01:25I bought a drum kit the next day. Oh, wow. Because I'm like, I want to do some drums on
01:29my next album. Right. Like, live drums, so. How's that going in terms of figuring it out?
01:34I'm not ready to present that to the public yet. But, you know, once I practice enough,
01:39I truly think anyone can learn any instrument and stuff. Just like any language, if you fully
01:44commit to it. Do you have space for it? With everything you have going on to sit at the drums
01:49and, like, figure that out? No, but I'm not a normal person, I guess, because I kind of just
01:55commit my life to this and I think that, I don't know, there's 24 hours in a day, right? So,
02:00if I spend an hour a day doing drums, an hour a day doing piano, a couple hours a day producing
02:04music, a couple hours a day working on, like, the art concept of it. There's enough time in every
02:10day, I think, to do that. Maybe my personal, my relationships go out the window. How do you
02:16break up the day that you can devote time to all of these things that you're talking about?
02:20I wake up at, like, seven every day now because I try to go to bed by midnight. I do believe you
02:26need seven hours and then I pretty much just work up until I crash. So, I'll probably take a nap
02:32around, like, noon or something, which you can't do in a corporate job. And then, so, I just,
02:37I kind of just put it up in three-hour blocks. Yeah, I really think anything's possible if you
02:41just have a really regimented, kind of, like, military-esque way of going about it.
02:47A whole place we must eat.
02:51Cheers.
02:56We talked a little bit before, but I would love to get into it more. Just, like,
02:59what you think your success says about the state of the scene in the U.S. in particular?
03:04I think it's awesome to put America on the map a little bit. Yeah. Because I'm, kind of, really
03:08expanding internationally now and I think a lot of American DJs, kind of, just got stuck in the
03:13America bubble and didn't grow out of it. I just want to showcase my art with the world.
03:17It's cool to be from America and being very supported by this country.
03:21So, of all the places that you've gone and that you get to go, is there a place in the world that
03:26feels like it's really thriving? Like, everyone says South America, but, like, what places do
03:30you go and play and you're like, wow, the fans here are incredible? I mean, South America is a
03:34good answer. I mean, you're not going to find more passionate fans from not just the music,
03:38but they, like, follow the whole cult of personality sense of they really, like,
03:44know everything about me, which I think is awesome, even though we don't even speak the
03:47same language. Like, Brazil, I go there and there's, like, totems and signs and everything
03:52and I'm like, wow, like, I thought this was only an American festival thing. Sure. So,
03:56they're true electronic music lovers at heart and the hospitality there is incredible. So,
04:00I really like going there. Another cheers, by the way. Cheers to our first place.
04:08Maybe slightly injured yourself? Yeah, because I'm an old man. I just turned 30,
04:12so I got a bum hip now. I ran too much too fast. Okay. And so, I'm learning the harsh truths of
04:18aging. Okay. Well, you're 30, so I'm going to say that you're probably going to be fine. I'm sure.
04:26Rebound pretty quickly. I mean, I used to run in high school, so I didn't stretch then and I'm like,
04:30stretch. Everyone, you know, says you have to stretch. I guess they weren't lying.
04:35Would you want to work with a major pop star? I've shot my shot to, like, Dua Lipa and
04:43Charlie XCX and stuff more in, like, a joking manner because, I mean, I think it would be
04:48amazing working with a pop star and they're ultra talented, but I do think the best talent
04:53doesn't have the most fame or notoriety. Working with Halo, when I first started working with her,
04:58you know, she wasn't a big name whatsoever and she was far more talented than anyone I've ever
05:02worked with prior. A lot of your songs are really lovey and there's a lot of longing and there's a
05:14lot of, like, contemplation. Like, do you feel like that's an accurate depiction of your sort of
05:19state and what you want to say? I'm a loving boy. Okay, tell us more. I mean, I talk to the music
05:26not on interviews, but I think it's a cool way to be self-reflective and kind of put out what you
05:32want in the world. Yeah. Most people do that through their own personal diaries, you know,
05:37but as someone that's fully out there in the open, whether it's social media, on the news,
05:42or anything, that now that I'm used to it, now I can put that through my art as well.
05:48Let's talk about Sphere. And I'm so curious about how that opportunity came to you to support Anima.
05:54So, I went and saw his show at the Sphere, which was incredible. I was really blown away by the
05:58Ellie Goulding record. And not just the record, but the visual and everything too. And Ellie's
06:02one of the most iconic EDM vocalists ever. And so, I took a video of it and I tagged Anima and
06:08Ellie on my incredible record, something along those lines. And then incredible record, incredible
06:14show. And then he WhatsApped me, Matteo did, which is Anima's name. And then Matteo was like,
06:20yo, you like the record? I go, I love it. He's like, would you want to remix it? Say less. So,
06:25then I did. And then I sent it to him. He's like, I love it. Would you want to play this together at
06:30the Sphere in like a month? And I'm like, once again, say less. I'm in. And then from there,
06:37yeah, I booked the Sphere show. Do you listen to dance music on your days off?
06:41It's all I listen to, basically. Besides when I'm trying to get inspired, like I said,
06:46or find new sounds. My days off, I guess, I'm listening to new music, new dance music,
06:51new sound, new artists and everything too. And then just like my nostalgic favorites.
06:55I'm a little feeling down and stuff. We all have our go-to's. What are your go-to's?
07:00It's hard to think off the top of my head. I need to make like a playlist or something.
07:04You should make a playlist of your go-to's and publish it. People would be fascinated to know.
07:07Now that's a vulnerable playlist. But yeah, I should do that. I'll do that.
07:11It's part of your, you know, your emotional growth.
07:13Yeah, summit's come down playlist. I like that.
07:22Tell me about the role that fitness plays in everything that you're doing.
07:28Fitness is what grounds me because I live a crazy life. Never know what time zone I'm in.
07:33Don't even know what city I'm in half the time. There's no more grounding in my activity than
07:38running because it makes you focus on the moment, focus on your breathing.
07:41It's my form of almost yoga meditation.
07:50The last time I was really at home was like during COVID and like no one knew who I was.
07:55And so I could walk around freely. And it's weird now walking around
08:00like the neighborhood town and everyone's asking for pictures and, you know,
08:03really feeling like a celebrity. I wasn't really, you know, performing in high school or anything.
08:07I didn't really start DJing publicly until college. So it's kind of a crazy concept.
08:13Maybe I go back and DJ the prom or something.
08:16I did like film and stuff in high school. So I was always really involved in that and the
08:21creative side of that. And then doing like making music on my computer and stuff. I'm not like a
08:26very instrumental person. It's always been kind of in the box. And ever since GarageBand,
08:31you know, I've gotten carried away with that. I guess I was like a nerd in high school.
08:35Like I had like a how-to video of like how to be a bro.
08:39And that like did very well at like state competitions and shit.
08:43I'm delusional. And I thought the first track I ever made was amazing.
08:46And I put the first track I made on SoundCloud.
08:49And I think it's, yeah, it's still up there.
08:51Anything that would get people up and dancing and moving.
08:53I remember like I was just at first just making music to impress my girlfriend at the time and
08:59stuff like that because she liked like all these DJs. I'm like, I can fucking do this.
09:03And then so I learned how and then I'm like very sponge-like where if I like to put myself in the
09:07room with talented people and I can pick up on the talents and stuff. And so that's the process of the
09:12album writing I'm doing right now is that I'm just trying to work with the best of the best,
09:16the best singers, best songwriters and stuff like that and create art that's never been made before.
09:20I think the standard is just making as much good as art as possible and the fans loving it.
09:25It's easier to look outside and like be inspired by people outside of my world.
09:30I'm loving like what Timothee Chalamet is doing right now. It's fucking incredible.
09:33Like that he can, you know, do Wonka, Dune and Bob Dylan all in the same year.
09:37I'm like, that's insane. It's like three different albums in the same year.
09:40I feel like I could lose my job any day.
09:43So the second I let off the gas, someone else is going to steam right ahead.
09:47It's like, you know, pool vaulting. I got to keep setting it higher and higher and higher.
09:51The bar.
09:51What I'm super inspired by the 90s, like VHS aesthetic is that whenever you see
09:57old concert footage from then, the VHS, everyone's super living in the moment
10:02because of course there's no cell phones, no TikTok, whatever.
10:04And then so I want to bring that to my own show somehow.
10:09Really capture the energy of a true party.
10:11I mean, some of the best parties I've ever went to in my life,
10:14and I'm not ashamed of it at all, are the parties during COVID,
10:17where it was no one's on phones because you'd get fired from your job
10:20or you couldn't do it because you weren't supposed to be there.
10:22And it was a very like counterculture movement.
10:25It felt very like I thought we were living in the prohibition,
10:28you know, especially me being, you know, young, broke and dumb.
10:32And then that's how I got a big name for myself as a DJ,
10:35especially in Miami here, which is why I fell in love with Miami.
10:37I kind of want to, you know, have that kind of counterculture vibe to the next album, I think.
10:42And I went to college, got a normal degree,
10:44and like I did the whole normal thing, and I was in the Matrix.
10:47Once I got fired, I'm like, enough of that.
10:48I really love where I'm at, and I'm going to work my ass off to keep it that way.